''The Spy's Wife'' is a 1971 British short

crime film Crime film is a film belonging to the crime fiction genre. Films of this genre generally involve various aspects of crime and fiction. Stylistically, the genre may overlap and combine with many other genres, such as Drama (film and television), dr ...

directed by

Gerry O'Hara Gerald O'Hara (1 October 1924 – 9 January 2023) was a British film and television writer and director. Life and career O'Hara was born in Boston, Lincolnshire on 1 October 1924, to James O'Hara, a bookmaker, and Jeannie O’Hara (née Beamont) ...

and starring

Ann Lynn Elizabeth Ann Lynn (7 November 1933 – 30 August 2020) was a British actress, especially prominent during the British New Wave of the 1960s, appearing in many films that represented what is known as kitchen sink realism. Lynn's career spanned ...

Dorothy Tutin Dame Dorothy Tutin (8 April 19306 August 2001) was an English actress of stage, film and television. For her work in the theatre, she won two Olivier Awards and two ''Evening Standard'' Awards for Best Actress. She was made a CBE in 1967 and a ...

, Tom Bell,

Vladek Sheybal Vladek Sheybal (born Władysław Rudolf Zbigniew Sheybal; 12 March 1923 – 16 October 1992) was a Polish character actor, singer and director of both television and stage productions. He was well known for his portrayal of the chess grandmaste ...

and

Julian Holloway Julian Robert Stanley Holloway (24 June 1944 – 16 February 2025) was a British actor and voice artist. He was the son of comedy actor and singer Stanley Holloway and former chorus dancer and actress Violet Lane and the father of author and for ...

. It was written by Holloway and O'Hara.

Plot

Tom Tyler leaves London bound for a spying mission for Prague, and warns his wife Hilda that their apartment may be bugged. A man arrives at the apartment and helps Hilda search for bugs. Elsewhere, Tom is in bed with his contact Grace. As she turns the photograph of her husband – the man in Tom and Hilda's apartment – to the wall, a hidden microphone is revealed.

Cast

as Hilda Tyler *

as Grace * Tom Bell as Tom Tyler *

as Vladek *Freda Bamford as Hilda's mother *Glenna Forster-Jones as Shirley *Janet Waldron as Elaine *

as man *Bunny May as driver *

Shaun Curry Shaun Curry (5 June 1937 – 7 July 2009) was a British actor, best known for his appearances on television. His credits include: ''Z-Cars'', '' The Saint'', '' Up Pompeii!'' as Spartacus, ''Warship'', '' The Sweeney'', '' The New Avengers'', ...

as chauffeur

Reception

The Monthly Film Bulletin The ''Monthly Film Bulletin'' was a periodical of the British Film Institute published monthly from February 1934 until April 1991, when it merged with '' Sight & Sound''. It reviewed all films on release in the United Kingdom, including those wi ...

'' wrote: "A formal and rather disappointing exercise from Gerry O'Hara, ''The Spy's Wife'' gives the impression of a three-minute revue sketch, padding out a conventional charade of musical beds with some subdued gimmickry along

James Bond The ''James Bond'' franchise focuses on James Bond (literary character), the titular character, a fictional Secret Intelligence Service, British Secret Service agent created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels ...

lines. The enigma of whether the husband is or is not a spy quickly loses its appeal; and though the principle roles are expertly played, the only chilling moment of mystery occurs when Hilda's sinister-looking mother pulls some glasses which she claims to have bought at Casa Pupo out of a

Habitat In ecology, habitat refers to the array of resources, biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species' habitat can be seen as the physical manifestation of its ...

bag."

References

External links

*
''The Spy's Wife''
at

BFI Player The British Film Institute (BFI) is a film and television charitable organisation which promotes and preserves filmmaking and television in the United Kingdom. The BFI uses funds provided by the National Lottery to encourage film production, ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Spy's Wife, The 1970s British films 1970s English-language films 1971 films 1972 crime films British crime films British short films English-language crime films